Courting Assessment
by SquibbySquiggles
Summary: Blitzwing has finally plucked up whatever courage he had in himself to ask one of the most intimidating Decepticons in the ranks, Soundwave, out for what humans call a 'date'. He definitely wasn't expecting the answer to be yes. Slash warning, might be a one shot might not, depends if people like it.
1. Chapter 1

"Query; why does this lower ranking officer wish to take Soundwave on a…" The communications expert trailed off, visor flashing up the meaning of the word 'date'. "…Courting assessment." He watched with scrutiny as the mech in front of him squirmed awkwardly, purple and cream blending not so seamlessly into one another. Blitzwing's heavy form inched from side to side at his monotone sentence, clearing his vocalizer before continuing.

"Do… Do I need to have a real good reason for wanting to take you on a date?" The empty, vast stare back from the lonely visor seemed to be his answer. "Well… uh… I've kinda been…" The triple changer rubbed the back of his neck, digits skimming over the layers of cable links bunched together, the smooth touch meaning to ease him up, but he was still as tense as ever. Soundwave cut in before he could continue.

"Acknowledgement; Soundwave had noticed your glances and odd body quirks whenever this unit walked buy. Semi Conclusion; Blitzwing is attracted sexually to Soundwave's form. Statement; Soundwave has no interest in any sexual activity during this time." The words cut through the air like a knife, and Blitzwing seemed to stagger back a little, his mouth opening and closing in shock at how purely blunt Soundwave was.

"That—No! Well, kinda, but it's not all sexual, Soundwave! I wanna… I wanna get to know you, y'know? Like- I like the cassettes, we get along great, and… I like how you are with 'em, yer like a creator to them, and even though the other guys think 'M goin' soft, I'd really like to… Iunno…" Rubbing the back of his neck again, Blitzwing looked away from the intimidating stare. Soundwave was much smaller than him, but he was still easily the most frightening mech in the Decepticons.

"Look, just forget it okay? I made a mistake." The triple changer sighed, frowning and began to walk past the superior officer.

"Statement; Soundwave accepts."

Blitzwing froze. He couldn't have heard that right. Turning to Soundwave in disbelief, Blitzwing's visor flashed in scepticism. He had to have misheard. Or Soundwave was joking. But Soundwave never joked.

"What?" He dumbly asked.

"Repeat statement; Soundwave accepts Blitzwing's offer for a courting assessment." The blue mech never moved a muscle, staring emptily at the triple changer. "Announced concern; Cannot be during working hours. Suggestion; Nineteen hundred hours?"

"That.. that sounds great." Blitzwing managed back. The communications officer nodded once before he was on his way. Dumbfounded but estatic, Blitzwing bit back a grin as he strode down the corridor with a bounce in his step. Successfully, he had managed to ask one of the most terrifying yet attractive mechs of the Decepticon ranks. And a higher ranking officer! But… that changed nothing about how he really felt.

Blitzwing first noticed his crush on Soundwave before they arrived on earth. He used to jab Astrotrain whenever Soundwave would walk past, and of course whisper some vulgar things to his friend about all the things he'd do if given the opportunity. Most of them were far from truth, just Blitzwing showing off to his buddy, when in reality he'd love to just be able to entwine his digits with Soundwave's, or watch a flic from the old days together. This was before Astrotrain went through his… change. Now he just didn't bother to tell the mech things. He never listened anyway.

Arriving at his quarters, he was unsurprised to find them empty again. Astrotrain was always out now. Not that that bothered him. In fact, the further away the unsightly mech was, the better.

They never had an argument. In fact, Blitzwing would have loved it if they had. One day, Astrotrain went for a meeting with Megatron, and the next… When Blitzwing saw him, something in his optics had changed. He was not the same happy-go-lucky, cheerful, drunken mech he knew before. Instead he saw… he wasn't sure what he saw. But Blitzwing knew it wasn't his best friend. So now, he would look at the holo-pic he had of both of them on his berth side dresser. It showed himself and Astrotrain laughing with their arms around each other's necks, babbling away about something Blitzwing didn't remember.

The room was spacious without the larger mech there, the dull, faded purple failed to give any light source, but Astrotrain never complained when Blitzwing had put new, pink lamps everywhere in the room, so long as he switched them off before they both recharged. Which he did without fail every night. Not much of the room was decorated, only Blitzwing's half, which included a poster of some obscure mech with his chassis exposed. It was a gift from Astrotrain, but he doubted the purple triple changer would remember.  
Sitting down on the berth, Blitzwing smiled at the holo-pic, holding it in his servos.

"Hey 'train," Blitzwing smiled down that the holo-picture in his servos, "you'll never guess what happened. Y'know that cute officer I keep crushin' over? Finally found it in myself to ask him out. Know what he said? Said yeah! Set a time and everythin'. Should really get ready heh… got a few hours, but y'know what I'm like. Damn slacker. I guess I'll talk with you after the date, Astro. Here's hopin' I don't scare him away."

"I don't know, talking to holograms would scare me away." Astrotrain announced, leaning against the doorway. He had made Blitzwing jump, but the mech refused to show any sort of inclination of surprise.

"Didn't think you'd be back this early, Astrotrain." He said evenly. He liked it better when he spoke to the picture, at least that had some personality.

"Got let off early." The large mech shrugged, optics flashing as they wandered all over Blitzwing, making him shudder in distaste. He could hardly believe that this was the mech that he was best friends with barely a year ago. It was like looking at a complete opposite personality.

"What about you, Blitzwing? Still slacking I see." The triple changer strolled over to his own berth, sitting down only to collect an energon sweet from his personal stash, then stood up again, heading to the doorway. Obviously he wasn't interested in what Blitzwing had to say. The purple and cream mech liked it that way.

"Less than you know." He muttered, watching the purple mech leave the room. Spike for brains, Blitzwing muttered to himself, before looking over at Astrotrain's personal stash. He could… use some of that as a gift for Soundwave. Primus knows the mech had it coming to him for him to steal some of the stash. Frowning in agitation, Blitzwing got up, made sure that Astrotrain wasn't coming back, and snuck a small box of rich energon sweets into his subspace. It was only small, a box of six, Astrotrain would never know they were missing.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful. He washed, waxed and relaxed himself in his room, considering it was one of his days off, but the thought of Soundwave kept running through his processor. What if he didn't like Blitzwing? Did he only accept to make him feel better? What if he got stood up? The thoughts raced through his helm until he decided another wax would do the job. After about half an hour of waxing, Blitzwing finally thought himself ready for the date. Which was in fifteen minutes. Time had flown fast.  
Too eager, Blitzwing raced out of his room, zooming past Astrotrain whom he paid no heed to, and waited just outside Soundwave's quarters, standing in front of the door nervously. Slag. What if he didn't answer? What if Soundwave didn't like him? Hesitant, Blitzwing knocked the door, slowly losing confidence.

Soundwave answered him, however, much to his relief, and found the officer looked as he always did (if not a tiny bit shinier? But that could have been the light) awaiting him. "Greetings, Blitzwing." The mech gave him a pleasant welcome. "Command; Follow—" There was a small pause, only for Soundwave to tilt his helm in the smallest of ways, "… Request; Follow Soundwave to the officer's recreational room?"

The Officer Rec Room (or ORR as the lesser ranks liked to call it) was one of the only places on the ship which was out of bounds for low ranking officers such as Blitzwing, savoured for the likes of Megatron, the Seekers, Soundwave and any other high ranking official. To be invited there was a great honour.  
If Soundwave noticed his surprise, he was polite enough to hide it. Blitzwing quickly snapped out of his daze. "That—Yeah! Yeah, of course. Thanks, Soundwave." Blitzwing managed awkwardly with a small grin. Soundwave seemed to study him for a minute before giving him a quick "Acknowledged," and continued down the hall.

The walk to the ORR was quiet, short and sweet. Blitzwing didn't seem to mind. He was far too happy with himself actually being on a date with Soundwave to even notice the silence. Thoughts ran through his processor, mostly thoughts for him not to mess this up.  
When they finally arrived, the ORR was empty, the rest of the mechs were probably off duty and Megatron probably didn't want to hang around by himself in an empty social room. It occurred to Blitzwing that it was probably Soundwave's plan to make sure that the room would be empty for them to have their little date. Maybe it was to avoid embarrassment.  
Whatever the reason, Soundwave certainly didn't vocalize it. In fact, he didn't say much of anything. Blitzwing followed him to a table for two, the seating and table looking so much better than Blitzwing's rec room. The seats were soft on the aft, and it felt very professional, as though they were seated in a lovely, cushion-y box. It had curtains and everything. Granted they weren't the best, semi-transparent, but they were as soft as silk.

"Could I...?" Blitzwing asked, motioning to the curtains. Soundwave nodded, and the mech gently pulled the curtains closed. He smiled in wonder.

"This is such a swanky place. Wish my rec room looked as good as this, but it'd probably be devastated in less than… less than…" He trailed off his sentence once he noticed Soundwave had taken his facemask off. Though his visor was still firmly planted on his faceplate, the no mask had caught him off guard, and he found himself drawn immediately to the new area. It wasn't anything special. It looked plain. But it was hard to think that Soundwave… with a mouth… even existed. He always spoke so monotonously. He wondered if that changed as well.

It so obviously did, the words coming out of the other's derma melodiously; "In less than?" The voice was soft and firm, but sounded like a gentle hum of a song, making Blitzwing's mouth drop open. But obviously, Soundwave didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he wasn't going to… outwardly, anyway.

"…Less than a minute. Heh. Guys in my ranks are kinda jerks about environment and slag. Uh, stuff. Stuff." He corrected himself on his cursing, though Soundwave seemed amused, even if his expression didn't show it.

"I believe this… courting assessment is about getting to know one another better, Blitzwing. If cursing is in your nature, don't let my presence stop you."  
That gentle voice warmed him to his very core. Smiling goofily, Blitzwing gave a grin in appreciation. "I'm… I'm kinda really nervous. Since I've never done date—er, courting assessment, before. Have you?" He leaned on his servo, interested in what Soundwave had to say, and even more so to know if he should be aware of competition or not.

"Many, but none ever turned out so colourfully. I believe everyone I've ever courted has this sneaking suspicion that I am some sort of noble who only courts the grandest speaking mechs. That is the furthest from the truth of the matter as it would get. I'm about as noble as Octane's skidplate. Don't tell him I've said that." Soundwave mumbled, pulling two cubes from below the table.  
Astrotrain had to snicker, and took the cube offered. "No offence, Soundwave, but even if I could talk all… noble-y and stuff, I doubt I'd even try with you. I mean, no one really knows what you'd like, so why'd I try to be someone different when I don't even know if you'd like the different me? Y'know?"

That gave Soundwave a thoughtful pause, before a ghost of a smile washed over his faceplate. "A very interesting way of putting that, Blitzwing."

The triple changer found himself flushing, and wiggled his wings to get rid of the heat on his face. Or at least draw Soundwave's attention away. It did neither, it seemed. But Soundwave didn't seem to mind or care about Blitzwing's little insecurities.  
"Th-thanks, Soundwave. Heh. You know I never thought that this'd actually happen… I mean, I've liked you a long time but I never thought you'd give me a chance."

Soundwave looked rather smug, and interlaced his digits together, watching Blitzwing intently. "I did notice. And heard all the sly comments you and Astrotrain made behind my back."  
Well that conversation took a large nose dive. Blitzwing looked absolutely horrified, and it definitely showed because Soundwave laughed. Actually laughed. The Triple changer sank into his seat, prepared to barrage him with excuses.

"I-I never meant any of it! I-I mean you know how you get with your best friend and—and you get too rowdy and—fraggit I'm so sorry you heard whatever we said, Soundwave…" Blitzwing moped apologetically, visor flashing in panic. Soundwave grew amused again.

"I'm good enough to tell when someone is lying Blitzwing, and sometimes, you were deathly serious. Other times… What were you thinking of doing to me otherwise? I pictured it as innocence, perhaps I was wrong."  
The purple and cream mech shrank back, faceplate red.

"Sometimes… I'd like to think how nice it would be to hold your servo."

That seemed to catch Soundwave offguard, shock suddenly flurrying over him before he quickly masked it, taking a very long sip of his energon. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to say? Blitzwing felt like this had gone downhill so very quickly. He looked down at his drink quietly.

"Y'know, if you want me to go I can, I mean no one knows about this so you can act like it never happened or… whatever the pit you want." He mumbled, glancing up only to see Soundwave shocked a second time.

"Why would I want to do anything of the sort? Blitzwing, I'm… flattered. I'm flattered you've meant every word you said since this morning and before. If anything, I've never been more… pleased, with how a courting assessment has gone." That definitely brightened Blitzwing's mood, and it showed in his large, goofy grin, because Soundwave looked away coyly.  
After realizing that he had just been shamelessly flirting, Blitzwing pulled the energon sweet box out of his subspace. He was saddened to find the adorable little pink box had been dented, it must have been when he was clumsily scuffling for something to give.

"Here, I know it's not much but… y'know. First impressions and everything." Blitzwing grinned again, tapping his digit on the table. Soundwave took them gratefully, and just simply stared at the box for a moment, before looking up again at Blitzwing with a small smile.

"Out of every gift I've received, I'll say this is my favourite. I've always enjoyed albino coloured energon treats. Where did you come across such a delicacy?" His slim digits danced over the box, tracing the swirling design pattern of the container. Blitzwing tried his best not to watch.

"Well y'know… lower ranks like I do have our ways." But stealing was never one of his. He felt bad, but not as bad as he would knowing Astrotrain didn't give a slag about him going on a date with the one mech he'd learnt to adore.

"I'd like to know these ways. But obviously, not now, maybe next time?" The words caught Blitzwing offguard, and his mouth hung open for a moment before he stammered; "You mean, you wanna—you wanna meet again?"  
Soundwave pushed his cube away gently, prying one of Blitzwing's digits off of his cube and interlaced his digit with Blitzwing's, smiling coyly once more. "Consider this courting assessment… successful."


	2. Chapter 2

Blitzwing stared at himself in the mirror with a neutral expression. Then he changed it into a wide smile, and then a sad expression, before returning to his normal, happy expression. He might have been overdressed, but he found himself uncaring. This was his second date with Soundwave, and after the last time, he had pretty high hopes. Especially after last time. When Soundwave touched his servo…

Snapping out of his dreamy daze, the triple changer smiled at himself in the mirror, and noticed many imperfections. The gap between his two incisors for one. Hook had been aching for him to come to the medbay to have away with those denta, and still Blitzwing would not go anywhere near Hook and his hand saw. The gap was there to stay until a friendlier medic came along, and whenever that was it was not in the near future. The other imperfections were just scars dotted around his faceplate. They weren't that big a deal, though the only ones to really stand out were the ones nearest his mouth and nose, but most of them were just superficial cuts from fighting that had never really gone away.

And why would they? Decepticons and Autobots were constantly fighting, so wounds would just keep coming back up. Blitzwing found it hard to care. He was quite set in his ways, meaning if you had scars you earned your place in the army. Something about Soundwave was starting to change his perception though.

After seeing Soundwave's faceplate on their 'courting assessment', Blitzwing found it devoid of scars and it was beautiful. Almost a work of art, even though the mech had a plain face just like everyone else. But the unadulterated faceplate reminded him of Cybertron, and gave him a warm feeling of home, even though Soundwave had probably seen more of the war than any of the soldiers. Even Frenzy and Rumble had their fair share of scars now. He wondered how Soundwave felt about that.

Finding that he was getting ahead of himself, Blitzwing smiled again in the mirror. His smile was goofy, obviously. It always had been, even before the war, he'd get teased for continuously smiling his stupid smile. The only one who said they liked it was Astrotrain, and that was how they became friends. Astrotrain.

It was funny how all his thoughts seemed to backtrack to that Shuttle.

His happiness gone and expression barren, Blitzwing sat down on his berth for a moment, looking back to his holo-pic. Astrotrain looked so happy there… what the slag happened to him. Deciding he needed a boost, he picked up the picture again with a smile, looking down at the happy time. "Second date, Astro. I get the feeling that… Soundwave might actually like me. I'm glad I got the courage t'ask him out, y'know? You'da been so proud of me, Astro. I know you woulda." His expression grew sad. "Why'd ya change, Astro…?"

Setting the picture down, Blitzwing gave himself a quick hug. Astrotrain had been his rock, his only support whenever he felt down, and he had been the shuttle's shoulder to cry on. Without him, Blitzwing was feeling like he was slowly falling apart, and it wasn't…

Good. It wasn't good. Especially when it was days like this Blitzwing was feeling the most insecure. First dates were always easy compared to the second, where you had to keep them interested and keep their interest in you. Blitzwing didn't know if he could do that. Right now he needed his best friend now than ever and he just wasn't there.

Sighing, Blitzwing stood and made his way to the door, opening it and walking straight into a wide chestplate. He stumbled back, luckily regaining his balance before looking to the cause of his instability, and what a surprise, it was Astrotrain. The train was smirking down at him for his little stumble. This made Blitzwing frown. Whatever this monster was, it wasn't the best friend he knew. Nose in the air, he tried to walk around Astrotrain, but the larger mech grabbed his helm and rammed it against the wall, making Blitzwing yelp.

"What the fuck, Astrotrain?!" Blitzwing snarled, visor cracked. The profanity must have triggered Astrotrain to slam his helm into the wall again, making the crack much more prominent. He also found out by the stain on the wall that either his derma or olfactory sensor was bleeding. Either way he wasn't happy with this situation. Then he yelped suddenly as his arm was twisted against his back, and his face met the wall again.

Contrary to popular belief, Blitzwing wasn't a coward. Sure, he was mentally unstable, but he was not under any circumstances a coward, and he absolutely refused to give Astrotrain the pleasure of hearing him whimper. Instead he gritted his denta and turned his helm to the side to avoid another helm on collision.

It wasn't… out of the norm to be attacked out of the blue by Astrotrain anymore. But usually he had done something to provoke it. He had done literally nothing this time. Which was why he was understandably angry. He waited for an opportunity to arise, Astrotrain had let his guard down. Good. He suddenly bucked back, slamming the larger mech against the opposite wall and elbowed him in the gut, causing the mech to cry out and spit oral fluid out of his mouth. The purple and cream mech spun, delivering a punch that connected with Astrotrain's jaw with a loud crack.

"Fuck you, and whatever your problem is." Blitzwing snarled, watching as the mech brought himself back up to his full height, optics alight with fire. The next thing he knew he was being held up above the ground by his neck. Kicking out and choking, he gripped to the servo that was constricting him, growling and hissing at Astrotrain, who was still smirking.

"I like you looking like that. Makes you seem less of a slag-eater." Astrotrain purred, his other had cupping and stroking Blizwing's cheek before giving it a hard blow, making the mech cry out in pain. There was a pause before Blitzwing spat out a loose dental plate, canine by the look of it. Energon trickled down his lip as he stared defiantly at Astrotrain. "You're not my keeper."

Astrotrain faultered for a second, which caught Blitzwing's attention, before throwing him out the open door. The triple changer landed against the opposite wall with a bang, barely missing Thundercracker who jumped at the loud sound. Astrotrain leaned against the doorframe, expression unreadable. "Don't come back tonight."

With that said, he closed the door, and the audible click of a lock sounded.

Blitzwing snarled, before putting his helm in his servo. He would not cry. Not when there were possibly mechs around to see it. His mouth hurt, his helm hurt, his vocalizer hurt. But his spark hurt much more. He was aware there was a shadow standing over him, and he couldn't find the power to fight back if it was Astrotrain. Instead, he was greeted with a delicate, blue, extended servo. He looked up to see Thundercracker, who had a worried expression. Blitzwing took the offered servo gratefully.

Thundercracker. Blitzwing liked the seeker, for all that it was worth. His trine were annoying, but once he was away from them Thundercracker was civil and disciplined, something Skywarp and Starscream could do with learning. Never the less, Blitzwing didn't hate any of them. They were just too loud for him. But Thundercracker he liked.

"What was that about?" The blue mech asked, helping the much larger mech to his pedes. Blitzwing grumbled, shrugging his aching shoulder. "Pit if I know." And Pit if he did, he'd do it again for spite so he could be ready for whatever Astrotrain was going to throw at him. The Shuttle always caught him off guard whenever he had one of his outbursts. It was starting to grate Blitzwing so much that he thought about swapping rooms with someone. But no one else could handle Astrotrain's outbursts apart from maybe Octane, but he was far too sensitive to deal with slag like that.

The triple changer then noticed Thundercracker was frowning in worry. He flashed him a smile, that was unfortunately bloody, energon coating his denta. "Hey, no worries. I'ma big bot, I can take a little smackdown." That didn't seem to calm Thundercracker down any. "Could I at least clean up your faceplate so you don't look so awful? Primus, looks like Prime's had atcha." Blitzwing wanted to laugh, but it hurt his vocalizer, so he settled for a grin. "I'm never against gettin' pampered."

He knelt down when prompted; letting the Seeker rub the energon off of his faceplate with a washrag he pulled from his subspace. It hurt, but Blitzwing was thankful for the help.

Thundercracker wasn't bad looking. In fact he was one of the most handsome mechs on board. If he wasn't infatuated with Soundwave, he might have asked Thundercracker to get a few cubes with him or something. Maybe he should do that anyway, both needed a few friends, and Blitzwing could tell when Thundercracker had enough of his trine, which was most of the time. Clearing his throat, he caught Thundercracker's attention.

"Listen, T.C, you wanna get a few drinks with me sometime? Nothin' serious, I see that look. But just a few cubes with a friend?" Obviously he wanted to get off the subject of Astrotrain too, and this was a good way to do it. The Seeker paused for a minute, before subspacing the dirty rag. "…Maybe." He granted, tilting his helm to the side for a moment, looking for any hint of a joke from Blitzwing. When he found none, he offered a smile. "Thank you for the offer."

"Thank you fer cleanin' my ugly mug." Blitzwing grinned, and waved the seeker off before dusting his dented armour. He'd done himself all nice looking too… He hoped Soundwave could understand, or better yet, didn't question what had happened. Turning, the triple changer walked down the corridor in sullen silence.

Once he reached Soundwave's quarters, Blitzwing gave a polite knock on the door. Then suddenly a wave of vertigo washed over him, and he held onto the frame tightly, biting his lip. Stupid fragging Astrotrain. Unpleasantly he might just have to see Hook later to make sure nothing was immediately damaged. His busted derma were bleeding again as was the cut in his olfactory sensor. It wouldn't be such a big deal if Blitzwing wasn't constantly forgetting about it and inhaling and choking on himself.

It wasn't Soundwave who answered the door, surprisingly it was one of the cassettes. Rumble, the… blue… one… He wasn't sure which was which. He wondered if even Soundwave knows. Either way, Blitzwing smiled a friendly greeting. "Hey there. Is your boss home?" He'd forgotten that his mouth was bloody, so he must have shocked Rumble, because the little cassette looked terrified and stumbled backwards into the room. Worry flaring in him, he called out after the running cassette; "N-no no I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare—"

"Boss! Boss! Come quick! Blitz' bleedin'! Boss!"

Wait, what?

Sundwave hurried out, freezing in place at the state of Blitzwing before he pulled him into the room, retracting his mask to show a worried frown. Blitzwing then realized that he might have been pulled a little too fast and stumbled, effectively landing against Soundwave. Embarrassedly he tried to pull away but the blue mech refused him that, helping him onto a nearby couch where Blitzwing was promptly forced to take a seat.

"What happened?" Soundwave demanded, the cassettes immediately beside him with cleaning rags and… Soundwave had a first aid kit? Stupid question, all high ranking officers probably had first aid kids. That was a luxury of theirs. They could have kits, and the grunts had Hook. Perfect. Blitzwing registered the question finally and fumbled with his words, fidgeting nervously. Should he tell on Astrotrain? He might get demoted and blame him and…

"Got in a fight," Blitzwing started, before Soundwave caught his jaw with his servo and looked inside his mouth, frowning at the blood.

"Who?"

"… Nobody." Blitzwing frowned, but sank under Soundwave's scrutinizing gaze. He wasn't going to be let off easy, was he?

"Nobody," Soundwave repeated deliberately, making Blitzwing sink lower. The TIC noticed that Blitzwing had almost become a puddle in his seat and sighed, pulling back and frowning. "Forgive me… I will not tell, Blitzwing, and I definitely will not act if you do not want me to, but please tell me."

There was a small pause before a weak voice sounded out; "Astrotrain. Iunno why. I never know why." Blitzwing said miserably, shifting and sitting himself up again. Soundwave was silent, so Blitzwing continued. "It's been goin' on fer a while. But it'd never been this bad. I mean…" He rubbed his tender helm. "Usually I say somethin' outta line and I get a punch er somethin' but this… jus' came outta nowhere, and suddenly my helm met the wall over and over… Slaggin' hurt too. An' think my visor's broke." He grumbled, stubby digits running over the large crack. "An' he wasn' gonna stop. Jus' lucky that I'm kinda strong and fought him off." The triple changer sighed, frowning down at his pedes. "No one else coulda."

"Boss could!" Frenzy (or was it Rumble) piped up, gaining an accusatory look from Soundwave.

"Yeah! Didn'ja hear 'bout him? Soundwave was a gladiator back in the day!"

Blitzwing looked over to Soundwave in surprise, grinning. "You? Pit Champion?" The Blue mech shook his helm. "That was long ago, and there's a lot more to fighting than just beating the slag out of each other. So in that sense, yes, I could fight Astrotrain. And win." And there wasn't anything in his tone that would suggest otherwise. Blitzwing stared at him for a moment, open mouthed before he felt a pang of arousal and his fans kicked online, making Rumble and Frenzy laugh themselves half to death.

Embarrassed, Blitzwing tried to stand. "Maybe we should call this date off an- woah-!" Blitzwing fell back down, vertigo striking again. Soundwave frowned again, not even caring about the burst of arousal from Blitzwing. At least now Blitzwing didn't care about if he had scars or not. Former gladiator and… He wondered if he had vertigo or if he was just swooning.

Soundwave put a servo on his shoulder, frowning. "Perhaps. Should I formally escort you back to your room?"

A wave of worry washed over Blitzwing. "No, no… I've been uh… Kicked out for the night. Slag I need a drink or somethin'…"

There was silence for a moment before Rumble piped in. "You could jus' stay here with us and the boss. We don' mind, do we?" The cassettes sounded in agreement. Soundwave looked like he had been betrayed, making Blitzwing laugh. "Well, so long as yer boss don't mind it, I'd love to." His helm caught Soundwave's side glance. "That's only if he don't mind."

Sighing, Soundwave managed a small smile. "I do not mind. But I would have loved to had been the one who asked you. We'll speak later. For now, Blitzwing, please lie down and get some rest." The cassettes had all shared a look and gone through to the next room, Blitzwing noticed. Must be bed time… weird how time seemed to fly whenever he was with Soundwave. Making himself comfortable on the sofa, Blitzwing grinned up at the Third in Command.

"Thanks fer this. Iunno how to make it up to yah, but I will," the triple changer promised. And he never went back on his promises. Soundwave gave him a hesitant smile. "I needed an excuse for you to meet the cassettes, and though this wasn't the best one… They approve of you. To make it up to me, all you have to do is take me on another… 'date'."

Blitzwing grinned. "That I can do."

He watched Soundwave retreat to the same room the cassettes were in, and watched the door close behind him. The large mech smiled to himself, before settling into the couch cosily. Nothing could wipe this smile off of his face.


End file.
